Ian Desmond unsuccessfully breaks up a double play in the fourth inning.

Game in a nutshell: Needing to salvage a Sunday victory to avoid a sweep, the Nationals instead fell into a familiar pattern. Their lineup couldn't get anything going against right-hander Ivan Nova, who needed only 97 pitches to go 7 2/3 innings. Their starter (Edwin Jackson) couldn't keep New York's lineup from racking up his pitch count early. And then a tight ballgame turned in the Yankees' favor late as the Nationals' bullpen gave up a couple of tack-on runs. Thus the most-anticipated series in Nats history (drawing three straight sellouts) ended in a disappointing sweep at the hands of the Bronx Bombers. On the bright side, thanks to rough weekends by the rest of the NL East, the Nationals still hold a four-game lead in the division.

Hitting lowlight: How bad has it gotten for Ryan Zimmerman? Really bad. With an 0-for-4 showing today, the Face of the Franchise is nowRead more »

It was an ugly weekend, but the starting pitching gave this team a chance to win in all three games. Seems like Harper's jitters affected the entire lineup, but the players can't rely on the Kid to carry the team alone. They're not known to be vocal, but the key veterans on this club need to show some leadership when team is struggling. Did not see that at all this weekend.

I agree with lls45, Gorzo and his gopher balls are of no use to us. Detwieler is the far better lefty long man. It's time to bid Gorzo farewell.Overall, this team has shown the ability to pick itself up off the mat this season (remember the Dodger series) and I expect them to do that again. We've got big games coming up with the Rays and O's this week. Go Nats!

The check swing call on Granderson by Timmons today was even more blatant than his blown call yesterday. Even the Yankees announcers laughed how they got away with one. To make matters worse, the ump stood there with an arrogant, defiant posture – as if he was baiting the Nats to challenge him. Utterly shameless.

I'm tellin' ya, with this lineup, we're lucky to end up in third place this year. Trouble is, nobody wants to face facts. They just want to go by what was. Bring up ANYBODY who can hit a ball. Don't look for lucky at-bats and say now they're hot! Our batters are consistently – averaged out – AWFULLLLL!. Keep the Harpers and Moores. Let them play. Put the rest on the trading block. Our pitchers are doing it all. Now, let's hear from all the kool-AID drinkers.

I agree with lls45, Gorzo and his gopher balls are of no use to us. Detwieler is the far better lefty long man. It's time to bid Gorzo farewell.Look at the score and think again … completely disagree with silly, ridiculous fans. And then they complain about H-Rod? And Brad Lidge who has yet to get through an outing unscathed this spring and throughout the season?Gorzelanny has pitched well enough and like Detwiler is technically a good major league starting pitcher. In the end its the offense and Zimmerman batting third that's the problem. Morse is still getting past spring training II. Harper is good but not like Morse was last season. Who else have you got? LaRoche? They aren't scoring runs when they have the opportunity and doubtless won't until the lineup turns over and more young, top prospects like Tyler Moore, Corey Brown, Kobernus, Goodwin, Skole et al find their way in. The bullpen has been more than holding its own other than Lidge who is truly done. Not Gorzelanny.

I agree with peric – Gorzo is fine. Hitting is a much bigger issue. Was at the game today and Morse is still trying to find his swing. Might as well be April for him. Can we sit Zimm to rest his shoulder without impacting his batter's eye and timing? (Too bad he cannot DH against the Rays.)I think another tough job for Davey is that he has to figure out what is less risky – bringing back a seasoned bunch of bench bats or promoting some AAA stars? Anyone have the latest on Moore's health?

Unloading unproductive veterans and replacing them with young prospects just because they are showing good minor league numbers is not a realistic and viable option for a club that currently sits in first place. Changes must be made with the team's overall balance and chemistry in mind. You can't swing the pendulum from one extreme to the next. I'm sure seeing good guy Lidge get DFA'd today had a somber effect on the team today. What I feel this team needs to do right now is reflect on what they learned about themselves this weekend, and for Johnson & Rizzo to determine what it is they are missing – besides the obvious – and where the biggest impact can come without upsetting the core. Maybe it boils down to the players needing to approach their at-bats differently than they have collectively to date. Easier said than done, I know. What

I think we are doing really well considering we are a team that is still in the building mode. We are making a lot more progress that I thought would be possible at the beginning of this year. Davey and Mike are showing the kind of patience required with the team. When they are sure that changes need to be made and they have a better option, they will make the changes. Of that I am sure.

I am not ready to throw Gorzy under the bus, I know there will be tough choices down the road, but I don't think he will be going anywhere. The big question i have is Mike Gonzales, not sure about him, granted he hasn't pitched much, I guess we will find out between now and the time that Drew comes back

No offense. Tough to face the reality.Don't see the Yanks with a bench load of rookies; Ibanyez, Jones…It's the quality of the bench, not age. This team is being held up by a very few offensive players and pitching. How long can it last?

Key stat: The Nationals are 0-6 against the Dodgers and Yankees this season. They're 38-20 against everyone else.I will take it!! It used to be the Astros ruining our weekend, now only top teams can do that. This was to be our year to find and fix short comings, get some experience and be ready to challenge for the division next. Well we may be young and show it against a couple top teams, but man we have really improved.Pour me some koolaid, most my days are fun.

I agree with you MicheleS. As things stand right now I believe it would be either Mike Gonzales or HRod to go when Storen comes back. That's assuming no more injuries. I'm not sure we can afford to hang on to HRod while he straightens out his head. I would dearly love to keep all that potential, but at what price?

What struck me about the Yankees is how old they are. Even their big "young" star, Cano is 29. We are built for the future. When today's core Yankees are retiring, our best guys will be in their prime. It's a great time to be a Nats fan.

We got swept by the hottest team in baseball today. But we absolutely did not get dominated. They wore us down with professional hitters and experience. Our slumpers looked bad, our kids looked young – they are young. We actually won Saturday's game, Brad Lidge was an issue, little things weren't executed, balls bounced their way and calls went their way. I am kind of tired of the "pitchers weren't efficient" line — all of our pitchers did what they had to do to get outs against the toughest lineup out there and did it valiantly. Their hitters don't hand you one pitch outs. Everyone is talking about what Davey said about Zim – he also said he hasn't talked to him about it – huh? When asked about the first pitch swinging — he said he likes agressive hitting – they are doing what he has asked them to do – whether it works or not. That's his hitting philosophy and so you will continue to see it. More one pitch outs.

Zim may want to focus more on baseball and less on taking his girl friend on all road trips with him and in season charity work like Thursday's gala followed directly by Sat Gala.Focus on baseball during the season…..He does not do any Nats Fest events in the off season so he has lots of time them….just like all other players….I think traveling with your girl friend each road trip is wrong precedent to set for this team of young players.

How long is Zimmerman's slump going to continue? We need production out of the 3 and 5 hole — we are seeing some from Morse, but none, so far, from Zimmerman.and note: FP and Bob C. coo and oooh and aahhh every play Zim makes — why? 1/2 of them are routine plays for a good major league 3b. What they don't talk about is his perennial throwing problem. It's embarassingly bad. But hitting .229 — something is wrong. He is hurting the team.

JayB said… Zim may want to focus more on baseball and less on taking his girl friend on all road trips with him and in season charity work like Thursday's gala followed directly by Sat Gala.Focus on baseball during the season…..He does not do any Nats Fest events in the off season so he has lots of time them….just like all other players….I think traveling with your girl friend each road trip is wrong precedent to set for this team of young players. June 17, 2012 7:14 PM ______________________________I read that on another Blog and I don't know how true it is except the argument is all you have to do is check his fiance's Twitter. I won't do that and will trust you have done your research.Yes, agreed, most don't take their families on road trips.One interesting post I read was that Zim refused to negotiate a new contract within the season because it would be a distraction but got engaged during the season. Planning a wedding can be stressful and a distraction.Not agreeing with you JayB. You aren't the first one to say that.

Thanks MicheleS!We all need a bit more patience and need to see the long-term picture. Swamis is right, our starting pitching was up to the task this weekend. Our hitters have looked like this most of the season and we're still in first place.

I was watching the out-of-town scoreboard and made similar comments to my hubby regarding the standings status quo. However, I'd not been aware of the key stat above. Thanks for that, Mark. I feel better about things now. Also, can I nominate Harper for throw of the day?

Glad to see I'm not the only one who doesn't have to be talked off the ledge! Teams don't end up in first place this late in June purely by accident. No, I'm not saying the playoffs are a lock, but simply that this team is not so horrible as some of the naysayers seem to think it is. Zim will hit, Morse will hit, Harper will learn faster than pretty much any other teenager in the modern era. Our SPs may occasionally have a dismal game where they give up 3 whole earned runs, but I'd still take them over any other rotation in the game, taken as a whole. Our bullpen hasn't been perfect, but Clip, Burnett, and Stammen have been completely lights out, and Storen (bless him) is coming back soon. The team has weaknesses and is not perfect, but they're still fun to watch. More Nats koolaid for me, please!!!

Each starting pitcher this weekend left giving the Nats offense a chance to win it for the team. Gio threw too many pitches and had too many walks leading to a high pitch count. JZim had an error that really cost him and some seeing eye hits that drove up his pitch count. EJax struggled in the 1st and bent but didn't break and ran up his pitch count.The story really was the Nats poor offense the entire weekend and the poor umpiring at key times.

Hitting lowlight: How bad has it gotten for Ryan Zimmerman? Really bad. With an 0-for-4 showing today, the Face of the Franchise is now hitting a paltry .229 for the season. Worse, Zimmerman didn't put together one quality at-bat in this game. He saw a total of seven pitches in four at-bats and swung at five of them. The only two pitches he took were called strikes. Is Zim's shoulder still hurting him? He insists it's not, and insists the injury never affected his swing in the first place. Whatever the reason, he's become a major hole in the heart of the Nationals' lineup.______________________________That seems to sum it up. The actual quality of the pitches he swung at and the one pitch in the last at-bat he didn't swing at is absolutely mind-boggling.

One interesting post I read was that Zim refused to negotiate a new contract within the season because it would be a distraction but got engaged during the season. Planning a wedding can be stressful and a distraction.The reason contract negotiations are a distraction during the season is because of the constant attention to it from the media that overshadows everything else regarding the team. In case you haven't noticed, the media is totally ignoring the upcoming Zimmerman wedding. Not a distraction. And anyone who has ever planned a wedding knows that all Zimmerman has to do is say "yes dear." And thanks to the new contract, there's no possible way the fiancee can spend all the money, so he doesn't even have to worry about that.

Did anyone else notice the third base umpire, Tim Timmons, flinch on that appeal for a strike. It looked like he wasn't paying attention to look for a swing and was caught off guard on the appeal. If that was the case, I can see why he called it a no-swing. On looking at the replay, I don't see how he could call a no-swing unless he wasn't paying attention.

Umpiring was not great this weekend, plus you have to admit the Yanks got some lucky bounces, found some grass and had some defensive plays where the ball made a beeline to their gloves. There were definitely some plays that were inches or fractions of a second from going another way.There were some balls that I thought were surely going out that we hit. I loved seeing Bryce pull it together so quickly. Bravo.It also sounds like ALR mentored him and the media didn't hound him when he wanted to skip a day of cliches. Not all is doom and gloom in natstown. RZ has always been laid back, but I see no emotion whatsoever from him -no fire, no anger, nothing. You would think with his contract, his engagement, the team winning you would see him smiling a little more , even with his hitting issues. He has been such a great team guy during all of the bad years, let's not turn our backs on him just yet. Maybe his mom is worse, maybe he is hurt – I think he deserves a little slack from us right now after all he has meant to us. After all, he is not exactly Adam Dunn 2011 bad.

Still thinking about this one. Ok, we were swept by the Yankees, arguably the best team in baseball. We were swept by the Dodgers. For the sake of argument, let's call them the second best team in baseball. (winning pct .627) No one else has swept us, only a few have even taken series from us. This suggests to me that the Nationals are at least in the conversation for the third best team IN BASEBALL. Yes, you could make plenty of argument that they're not–but when have we ever even been in that…ummm…ballpark before???? GYFNG!!!!!!